Only a long-time Duke fan could appreciate how cathartic
Saturday night's game-winning drive against North Carolina really was.

Only a fan who had endured the succession of heartrending
losses to the rival Tar Heels over the last four decades could watch UNC's
improbable go-ahead touchdown and not be haunted by memories of past
heartbreaks -- from Mike McGee's last Duke game in 1979 (when the Devils lost a
15-3 lead in the final minutes) to Ted Roof's final loss in overtime in 2008
(when the Devils missed field goals at the end of regulation and in overtime);
from Mike Voight's long run to beat Duke 39-38 in 1976 to Octavius Barnes' late
touchdown catch and run to beat Duke's last bowl team, 41-40 in 1994, to the
missed extra point that was the difference in a 45-44 loss in 2006.

And it seemed to be happening again. Duke dominated the
game's first three quarters, holding UNC without a touchdown and building a
23-9 lead.

But on the very first play of the fourth quarter, head coach
David Cutcliffe gambled on a fake punt and when Walt Canty's surprise sneak
failed, North Carolina had the ball near midfield and -- more importantly -- finally
had momentum.

Over the next few minutes, UNC scored three touchdowns -- the
last coming on a long pass that was fumbled deep in Duke territory. Blue Devil
cornerback Ross Cockrell appeared to be on the spot to recover, but when he
landed atop the ball, it squirted from beneath him ... and it bounced right to
UNC's Gio Bernard who caught it in stride and took it the rest of the way for
the go-ahead touchdown.

Down 30-26 with just 3:12 to play, it looked like Duke was
due to endure another nightmarish loss to its rival.

But Cutcliffe wouldn't let his team -- which had wilted in
adversity a week earlier at Virginia Tech -- let down on this occasion.

"What I told our offensive line -- immediately -- was, 'You
know what? They blew it. They scored with too much time left on the clock. This
is exactly what we want ... we're exactly where we want to be,'" he said. "We've
always tried to equip our young men to handle those situations ... any situation.
We didn't handle it at Virginia Tech."

All week after that collapse, Cutcliffe and his staff
preached a new mantra.

"I talked to them about it last Sunday," Cutcliffe said. "I
talked to them Monday, Tuesday ... I talked to them about it in the motel [Friday
night]. We put a little phrase word together and what it meant was, we're not
going any way but forward."

Duke had to go forward from its own 13 after kick return man
Lee Butler was nailed there by UNC's coverage team.

What followed has to rank as the greatest drive in modern
Duke football history -- 87 yards on 14 plays. That was both the most yards and
the most plays for any Duke scoring drive this season.

And considering the importance of the game -- it not only
made Duke bowl eligible for the first time since 1994, the win also left Duke
in sole possession of first place in the ACC's Coastal Division and, of course,
it came against UNC -- it's hard to remember a game-winning drive that could
match it.

"That's a great fourth-quarter win -- to be able to take it
almost the length of the field with that much on the line," Cutcliffe said. The
30-year coaching veteran added: "I don't remember any of them much better than
that -- anywhere."

It started innocently enough with a five-yard pass to
sophomore Issac Blakeney. But the first sign it would be special came on third
down from the Duke 18, when quarterback Sean Renfree found senior wide receiver
Conner Vernon cutting across the middle and hit him in stride for what the
ACC's all-time leading pass-catcher turned into a 29-yard gain.

"It was one of those things -- the two-minute drill, we
practice it all the time," Vernon said. "Sean just put it out there and we went
to work. We didn't panic. As soon as we got the ball back, we knew we were
going to play."

Moments later, Duke ran the same play to convert another
third-down play -- Vernon catching it over the middle and taking it 15 yards to
the UNC 36. A few moments later, Renfree hit freshman Jela Duncan out of the
backfield to convert a third straight third down.

The precision of the offense on the final drive left Vernon
struggling to explain it.

"When we played North Carolina here my sophomore year, it
came down to a two-minute drill and they stopped us," he recalled. "I've never
seen it executed like that. I'm at a loss for words."

Duke faced a 4th-and-2 and the UNC five-yard line with
19 seconds left when Cutcliffe called his last timeout to set up the decisive
play.

"You put yourself in position where you have multiple
receivers, multiple options on both sides," Cutcliffe said. "You've got two
in-breaking routes -- Desmond [Scott] coming under ... Jamison [Crowder] coming under. You've got
our big man [6-6 Issac Blakeney) running the end-line. On the backside, you've
got a really good player in Conner who's got some options based on coverages."

Crowder, who lined up wide to Renfree's right, said he made
a very subtle adjustment just before the snap.

"I knew my route was a five-yard in route," he said. "As I
came to the line, I looked at the scoreboard to see what yard-line the ball was
on. I saw it was the five ... I wanted to make sure that I got inside leverage on
the defender and got in the end zone."

The point is that he ran his five-yard slant at
five-and-a-half yards, so that he was just past the goalline when Renfree
rocketed the ball in his direction. The Blue Devil quarterback had a small
target -- Crowder was bracketed by UNC cornerback Tim Scott behind him and UNC
linebacker Kevin Reddick in his face, but Renfree put a bullet in Crowder's
chest.

"Jamison, who is as quick as a cat, got himself inside the
corner," Cutcliffe said. "Sean said, 'I trusted him'. I don't blame him, I
trust him too."

The final test was when Crowder took a shot from Reddick
that flipped him on his back.

But he held the ball.

"When I saw the ball come my way, I wanted to make the catch
and hold onto it like it was my baby," he said. "When I realized I still had
it, I wanted to get to the sideline and celebrate with my teammates."

Crowder had a lot to celebrate. He is a native North
Carolinian who came to Duke from Monroe High School. He is one of 28 North
Carolinians on the roster, including such prominent players as fellow wide
receiver Desmond Scott, running backs Josh Snead and Jela Duncan (who rushed
for 99 and 64 yards respectively), cornerback Ross Cockrell, linebacker Kyler
Brown (who broke up two passes and made six tackles), safety Brandon Braxton,
backup quarterback Anthony Boone (who scored Duke's first touchdown),
cornerback Tony Foster, starting offensive tackles Takoby Cofield and Perry
Simmons (who paved the way for Duke's monster 234-yard rushing night),
defensive tackle Nick Sink, tight end Issac Blakeney, and defensive end Justin
Foxx.

"We had eight North Carolinians on the team when we got
here," Cutcliffe said. "Now we have quite a few."

It was no coincidence that Desmond Scott -- a Durham
Hillside product who was recruited by UNC -- was the first Duke player to reach
and ring the Victory Bell after the game. Before the game, Cockrell, who came
to Duke from Latin High in Charlotte, N.C., complained that he had never gotten
to ring the bell and talked about how much he wanted that experience.

"I didn't get to ring it," he said after the game. "There
was a lot of craziness going on. I'll ring it [Sunday] morning."

Cutcliffe was doused with spray paint (he helped the players
repaint the bell from light blue to Duke blue on the field) and Gatorade. He
said he was also waiting until Sunday morning to ring the bell.

It won't be hard -- the players stashed the bell in their
locker room.

A lot of Duke players deserve to ring it -- the defense that
held the potent UNC offense without a touchdown for three quarters; the trio of
running backs and their blockers up front who generated Duke's best rushing
game of the Cutcliffe era; freshman placekicker Ross Martin, who was perfect on
four field goals and three extra points, setting a freshman scoring record (and raising
his season field goal percentage to 14 of 15); Renfree, who was outstanding at
quarterback, throwing for 276 yards against the ACC's second most-efficient
pass defense, and his receivers, especially the trio of Vernon, Jamison and
Scott.

"I don't know if anybody in the country has three receivers
playing better than our three receivers," Cutcliffe said.

Still, it took a miraculous fourth-quarter drive to erase
the demons that have plagued Duke football against North Carolina.

"At the end of the day, we make the plays," Cockrell said.
"We made more plays than they did."